In Darkness
by Sheila51
Summary: Luke Skywalker discovers one of the empires black projects, one the New repbublic has tried to hide, and haunts Mara's dreams. There is just one problem. There was a survivor.
1. Whispers

**In Darkness**

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**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, he does, I don't.

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A/N: Please reviw even if you hate it, all reviews are wonderful! The bits that look _like this _are memories! 

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_Prologue: Whispers in the Dark...

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I find myself wandering the grey nether regions of my consciousness at night. The places where I've hidden all my wrongs. Hidden all the things I've done in my life. Often the early hours of morning find me here. Wandering, wondering. Could I have done something differently? Should I have? My short life has seen so much. So much... Too much some would say. Like he would say... Chak would tell me not worry, that I was not that person anymore. That I had changed... But the truth was late at night she came out of my darkness and spoke to me. 

If I wasn't careful I would hear her whispering in my ear. Whispering who I really am. Whispers that make me want to scream, or cry, whispers that drive me to do just what I want. To be the creature I was made to be. Whispers of possibility... She's here now. As always she whispers. I try to drive her away, but she won't leave. Her hatred makes my blood pound and boil. She breathes softly in my ear. She whispers the things that make my face heat. She tells me half truths and lies that make me feel in turns angry and shamed. I roll over trying to escape her whispers. But they won't go away.

In frustration I throw off the warm bedding and leap out of bed.

Warm water brushes my face as I bend over he sink. I see my self in the mirror and pause as I stand, towel in hand. My free hand reaches up to brush across my face. My skin is soft and a rich colour, like diluted caf. My dark eyes are large and framed by wet lashes that make me look sad. My lips part in sadness. This person staring back at me is cold. Cold and ruthless.

I raise the towel and brush the excess water from my face. My heart is beating so. Sending surges of chemicals through my blood. Clinically, coldly I analyse their effect. My cheeks are touched with pink my eyes brighten, my very skin prickles in awareness of beating heart. Turning away from the reflection I tie my thick dark hair back away from my face.

As I dress in simple garments of varying grays and blues I consider what the differences are between the face in the mirror and the faces inside. Inside there is her, she looks like the face in the mirror only harder colder, it is the face of a stormtrooper, of a loyal imperial servant, the face of a cold blooded killer. And then there is the me that was.

With the face of a child. Smiling, contented and happy. She tells me everything will be fine, yet she is a quiet voice I only hear when I am content, at peace. She comes out when I stay with the Fel's. Their voices coax her from the place where she hides deep within me. Soontir, so strong and fatherly, Syal, kind hearted and strong, their six children... They are the family I had never had. Between these different faces there is me. The me that has come from the little girls smile and pain, the hard anger and control exhibited by her, and the face that is on the outside.  
  
Stepping out of the tall building into the crisp night air I begin to run, my mind as always going back over the events of years before.

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_Dark eyes opened suddenly. A strange sense of danger lurking nearby causing her to jump upright. Her hands rubbed quickly over her tired face and over the tiny hairs that formed a small cap of darkness down the centre of her head. She pushed away the military blankets and stood. Her bare feet on the freezing ground. Suddenly the station rocked. _

_Her feet flew out from underneath her, causing her to stumble against the far wall. A siren wailed in the distance. Behind her a spray of sparks flew down onto the bed she had just vacated, causing the blankets to come alight. She stared at the fire for only a moment before turning to the door. She reached up and pressed the release button. The door remained stubbornly closed. _

_More sparks and other things flew across the room as another shudder rocked the room. She pounded on the door as a spike of fear sent her ears ringing, and skin tingling. Frustrated she let out a howl. After a moment the door was gone. She was shaking... Shuddering... Carefully she entered the corridor. A white suited Stormtrooper lay nearby. His neck twisted at an odd angle. She didn't look twice at the dead man. Calmly she stepped over him and began to move stealthily down the corridor. _

_Carefully she looked around the corner, two stormtroopers were striding towards the lift as it opened, expelling a lab tech and an officer. As she looked another shudder, this one more violent tried to knock her from her feet. Claxons blared and someone was speaking over the intercom with static pulsing through his frightened voice. "... to.. shuttle... Evac.. Evacuate... Destroy all labs a...speci.ns" she quickly interpreted the words and moved purposefully down the corridor. _

_The stormtroopers didn't see her until she was behind them. Reaching up and out she grabbed the repeater rifle from one of them's hand. She lifted it and fired two short bursts. They fell. Crumpling against the ground. She then fired at the lab tech and officer who had emerged from the lift. They too fell, a shriek from one of them._

_ "Repeat. Under heavy ass.. t emergency evac... pro...destroy all sp...ens. She ran now. Entering the lift she pulled the emergency halt before pulling a panel off the wall. She rewired the lift to go straight to the fighter bay. As the lift stopped she opened the doors and immediately ran as fast as she could, which was very fast, a blurred streak, to a long range tie. _

_Popping the hatch she settled in. powering the little ship up didn't take too long, quickly she exited the docking bay. In the heat of battle no one had noticed her. Her ship came out of the docking bay at maximum thrust and headed at that speed as far away from the ship. That night as she slept fitfully her old voice of laughter slipped through her hardened exterior. That night whispers were heard in the dark. _

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Use small button. Review or evil bed bugs will chew your legs off! 


	2. Dark Dreaming

In Darkness

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A/N: Thanks to all reviewers! You guys are great! This chapter is setting up the rest of the story, sort of like a second prologue.

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Dark dreaming, seeing, feeling.

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_Mara tossed inside her dream. Trying to escape the confines of her mind. Figures appeared inn front of her, men she'd killed… Images of her time with the emperor as his Hand. His cackling laugh reverberated through his mind. She saw him in his throne room on Coruscant, beside his throne a figure stood cloaked in darkness. She shivered as the small figure stepped forwards into the light. Mara shook her head as tears ran down her face._

She woke with a start. Beside her Luke was whispering. "Mara!" he was holding her shoulders. She blinked and tried to shake off the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Mara? What's wrong?" she shivered and shook her head.

"Just a nightmare." She told him standing and going to the 'fresher. Pausing she looked in the mirror. For a moment she saw the dark, cold eyes of the figure beside the throne and shuddered in disgust. She quickly splashed her face with water and returned to Luke. He sat on the side of the bed. He seemed worried but he was giving her space. Allowing her too come to him if she needed too. She smiled at him to let him know she was fine.

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Naraé stepped into the circular control room on Nirauan. She looked around at the blue skinned Chiss and their human counterparts who worked diligently at their stations. Those who bothered to glance at her looked away quickly. Her mouth twisted bitterly. They were afraid and respectful. But more the former than the later.

"Commander!" called a strong voice. Naraé turned and walked to where Admiral Voss Parck stood. She smiled at him in a desultory way.

"Admiral." She nodded her head to him. Beside him Soontir Fel sent her a look that sad 'behave'. She smirked. Parck attitude towards was generally one of disgust and she could see why. She was an exception to every rule he lived by, and worse, she was a disgrace to the old Empire in his opinion.

He responded to the slight smirk with a frown. "Welcome back Commander Thirell." He said turning back to the readouts he'd been examining.

"Thank you, sir." Her words were the epitome of imperial correctness.

"How was your mission?" he asked, his sideways glance at her the only hint he was very interested in her answer.

"All objectives were achieved, sir." She replied. He nodded. He lowered his voice and stepped close.

"And?" he asked.

"Admiral Pellaeon… Is open to our approaches." She smiled at his raised eyebrows. "And so is the New Republic. All that remains to be seen, is whether they respond with speed, or slowly." Parck nodded.

"Dismissed." He said distractedly, returning to the information he and Fel had been examining on her arrival.

Turning smartly she walked back through the command room. Pausing outside she turned quickly to the nearest window and opened the plast sheet. Reeal air flowed over her making her smile truly. She had never gotten over the feel of planets, the way air blew in breezes, and the weather could change so quickly, the way rain felt on your face and even the feel of dirt under bare feet. The canyon she was looking at shimmered in the dry heat of Nirauan's summer. She rubbed a hand over her eyes. When she looked back at the shimmer she frowned. Shapes seemed to move within the heat haze, indistinct but there. She turned away. Quickly she fled the open window. The figures in the mist were lost. Left behind by instinct.

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_Three weeks later:_

Talon Karrde leafed through various reports from different groups out on the rim. He paused over a report of a missing Twi'lek dancer. It said she had stolen some files that contained old New Republic access codes. He frowned and leaned forwards. 'having stolen the codes she disappeared from a heavily guarded casino, and made it off planet despite our best efforts.' The report was from Kal Jeedon, a resourceful and reliable man who usually got what he needed to get done done.

He looked up as Shada entered. "We're about to come out of hyperspace." She told him. He nodded and put the report amongst the others and followed her to the bridge.

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Once more Naraé lay awake, listening to the whispering of her other self. As always the voice would not let her alone. It muttered of things she should do, of options available to her. It told her lies about itself. About those around her. The other voice, the child's voice as always was silent. And she was alone with the whispers. They were strangely elevated tonight. Feeding on her guilt and pain, showing her how much better it would be to succumb. Be angry, the voice whispered, Be what you were supposed to be.

She sighed and slipped from bed, resigned to another night of exercise to still the voice inside her head.

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Hey guys! Please review, and tell me whether you like this chapter cause I have an alternate version! 


	3. Out of the darkness

**In Darkness

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**A/N:** Hey guys! Sorry this took so long! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. I hope your enjoying the story. This chapter is partially the other version of chapter two!

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_Chapter 2: Out of the Shadows...

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The figure in the Shadows watched as a fat man approached the other two. They spoke in low whispers one handed the other some Credit chits and was given a small package, before with furtive glances, the two groups parted company. She smiled as she stepped out from behind the crates. Dark eyes twinkled in triumph before darkening at the sound of a Security sweep. She melted away into the dark night, leaving the lingering scent of Cheri blossom hanging in the air.

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Talon Karrde watched the dingy bar with eyes made wary by years of such watchfulness. Opposite him sat the lovely Shada. Her eyes too swept the room. His own paused on a pretty girl standing at the far end of the bar, mostly hidden the shadows. She had thick dark hair pulled back from straight shoulders. A dark outfit and her choice of weapons said she was a bounty hunter. As she turned towards him he blinked. She was more than beautiful. Her face was perfect, until you looked at her eyes. He'd seen eyes like those before. Her dark eyes reflected a bitter pain he knew on the faces of those who had nothing left worth living for.

She smiled slightly. Her dark eyes matching his own, their caf dark depths focused on him. He kept her gaze. Strangely she didn't look away, most of the crooks in this joint slipped their eyes away from yours if they caught you looking at them. She raised her small glass in front of her, as though she were about to drink. As she did she winked and gave a slight toast in his direction. Then a pair of Rodian's passed in front of her and when he looked back across the crowded room she was gone.

He shook a strange feeling of Déjà vu and turned back to Shada. She was still raking the room with her eyes. N over the top gray outfit with silver beads and matching pieces in her hair. Talon smiled slightly as her hand stroked his absently in her role as sycophantic female companion. He felt a stir of hunger and glanced again at the grimy bowl of equally grimy nuts, making a face he pushed them towards Shada. She rolled her eyes at him while somehow making it look as though she was gazing up at him adoringly.

He made a small noise in his throat as he saw a tall dark skinned man step through the door. Nor Cherum was the worse kind of crook and smuggler. His greasy face split into a fake smile when he spotted Karrde, he began manourvering his enormous girth though the.

"Talon!" he boomed as he slipped in to the chair between Shada and Talon, distributing his poundage onto the chair. "How are you?" he asked with fake interest.

"Well." Said Karrde shortly, his eyes sweeping the room again. Something about this meeting was off. Karrde frowned. Nor Cherum had a rather disgusting greasy, ingratiating expression on his face, but his greedy, pig like eyes looked triumphant. Perhaps he thought he was going to make Talon Karrde pay him exorbitantly for a piece of small information. "Too business?" suggested Karrde. A slight moment passed as Nor glanced sideways a little uncertainly.

"O-of course." He said slightly more uncertain. Shada too was tense Karrde noticed. He brought out a small datacard and placed it on the table with a slight thunk. Karrde looked from the card to Nor's sweaty face. He frowned slightly. As he reached for the card a passing figure put a gun to his temple. He heard Shada's shocked gasp as another gun was placed at her temple. Karrde watched as others in the room brought their guns to bear on Karrde and his people. He looked up at pale eyed young man. He saw a figure nearby in dark a bounty hunter's outfit close her eyes.

He frowned and looked at the others in the room quickly. All his people were covered and at least three guns were trained on Shada. Karrde whistled as his brain went into over drive. He felt a hand snake around and grab his gun. Leaning back in his rickety chair he looked at Nor Cherun. Surprisingly Nor's face wasn't twisted into a triumphant grin, in fact it wasn't showing anything much.

Except fear, mortal fear. The pale eyed young man holstered his gun; his face _did_ have a triumphant smile on it. He flicked icy blonde hair off his face as he smiled down at Karrde. "Ah the man himself." He said in what had to be one of the most compelling voices Kardde had ever heard. The man himself was little more than a boy yet his features and mere presence were like a drug. Kardde felt a strong compunction to like the, which was completely irrational he told himself as he took note of the man's people still had guns on everyone of his people in the room. As he returned his gaze to the young man he noticed a hand clenching into a fist.

The young man's icy eyes were… friendly. He shook his head slightly. And looked back at the young man. One moment he was a deadly and unknown enemy the next Karrde felt like he was looking at a friend. At someone he could trust implicitly. As he shook his head again a rustle passed through the room as men in dark clothing stood or stepped close to the men who had guns trained on Karrde's people. New guns leveled.

Karrde sucked in breath and looked up at the young man. All his benevolent feelings disappeared like they were being sucked away. The young man's icy eyes widened but before he could do anything a slender silver blaster was pointed at his head. Over his shoulder Karrde noticed the dark eyed bounty hunter was the one holding the gun. The young man was pulled backwards into a slightly open space. The young woman suddenly let go of the man and ducked just as he turned.

Karrde jumped upright. A sharp hiss crack filled the room as a red blade appeared where the young bounty hunter had just been standing. She rolled over her shoulder and stood up a distance away. Her face was set in a taunting grin, dark eyes dancing.

"Consider yourself a Jedi do you?" she asked. Her voice was rich, just as Karrde had imagined. The man slashed at her with the 'saber. She ducked away from the blade. Laughing. He followed after, his blade carving patterns of light around her.

"Stupid girl!" he growled as he chased after her. In a sudden move that Kardde could never later remember exactly the young man was stepping forwards, preparing to finish of the young girl. Suddenly her foot was where his knee had been straightening. A sharp snap was followed by a scream from the young man. The lightsaber was plucked from nerveless fingers and deactivated.

The young woman grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and dragged him across the room she backed him into the table and but the deactivated saber to his neck. The man was shaking, his face white from pain. She looked at the others in the room her dark eyes meeting each of the attacker's eyes, challenging them.

"Anyone else thinks they're a Jedi?" she asked dangerously. Silence answered her as those of the young man's supporters who still had their weapons handed them over with bad grace. "Good." She said turning back to the young man. She looked down at him and then smiled sweetly at him. He was sweating now his face contorted with pain. "Hurts does it?" she asked. "Good. I don't like people calling me stupid…" She grinned lopsidedly, it wasn't a pleasant grin.

Karrde looked over at Nor, his pig like eyes were looking at her with fear and amazement. She stepped back a bit and pulled out her blaster. Aiming carefully she looked down the silver sight at the young man. Karrde recognized her intention and stepped forwards his mouth opening. A single red blast hit the man between the eyes.

Karrde's words died in his throat as the body slid off the table. Karrde watched as though in slow motion as the girl pulled open the light saber case and laying it on the table she blasted it as well. He turned to cold dark eyes in an equally cold face. Around the room he realized dead men were sliding to the floor. Without a word the girl then shot the Data card. Slipping her blaster away she smiled at the silent room. Those not involved with the brawl waited to see what either side would do next.

She turned away and walked to the door, stepping over a body as though it were a puddle in the street. She turned back towards Kardde for a moment. Her dark hair and eyes a contrast to her icy expression. She smiled coldly and said.

"Goodbye Karrde." He sucked in a breath.

"Who are you?" he croaked after her.

"A friend." She replied before disappearing. Out the door into the night. Several of his men had recovered enough to run out the door after her. After a minute they returned to find Kardde sitting at the table staring at the blasted datacard. What, he asked himself, had been on the card that had caused all this murder? Who was the man with the lightsaber and who was the dark haired girl? The questions danced through his brain as those who had not taken side quickly disappeared leaving Kardde and his people alone in the dark and even more shabby bar with the dead bodies, the smell of ozone and the faint scent of some exotic flower.

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Luke woke again to the sound of Mara crying out in her sleep. He began to reach for her and stopped. Her green eyes were open and staring at the ceiling as tears leaked from their corners. "No," she murmured over and over again. He watched in anguish as she shuddered and rolled away, curling into a protective ball as she wept her apologies to the darkness.

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Hey! Leave me a review... I still have the evil bed bugs that will get ya if you don't review! 


	4. Into the Light

**In Darkness**

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A/N: THANK YOU REVIEWERS! I love you guys! This chapter is gonna sound completly insane in places... But don't worry! I have a Plot!(I hear you gasp) Yes a Plot! So please bear with me!

**In Darkness**

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A/N: **THANK YOU REVIEWERS**! I love you guys! This chapter is gonna sound completly insane in places... But don't worry! I have a Plot!(I hear you gasp) Yes a Plot! So please bear with me!

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_Chapter 3: Into the light._

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Chak watched her lean against the dark wall, they were alone outside the spaceport. Slowly her eyes changed, the hardness fled them, replaced by a softness few ever saw. Tears formed as he watched and slid down her face. He watched her dark eyes as she cried. She just leant there against the wall, her tears her absolution.

Finally she wiped her face with a shaking hand. She turned to him with a sniffle. Her dark eyes were haunted and sad as she looked at him. He returned her gaze. A slight, bitter smile graced her lips as she walked past him, her steps confidant once more.

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Her emotions swirled through her still as she walked across the docking bay. Her dark eyes swept the shadows of their own accord. She had done it again. She had let lose the monster within. The creature that killed and whispered. She moved to her small ship. She quickly climbed the side of the old smuggling ship.

She was met by the eyes of her team. She knew their eyes, some glowing crimson, some with elongated pupils and scales would not look at the tears. They knew to look away, they understood, or thought they did. They thought she was under controlhyperspace a warm hand took hold of hers. She smiled into a pair of warm eyes.

"It's alright." Said Chak as he held her smaller hand in his own. She waited a moment before removing her hand from under his and turning away to examine all the boards. She heard his soft sigh at her withdrawal and stopped herself as she went to turn back to him. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair on him she reminded herself.

She sighed herself as she stood and walked though into the main area, avoiding the eyes that followed her.

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_One week later_

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Luke glanced worriedly from his overtired wife to Kardde and then to his sister. All of them looked worried at the news Kardde had brought. They all stayed silent as he trailed off. Leia was frowning fiercly, as she stared into space. Han looked uneasy as did Mara while Kardde himself seemed on the verge of an aneurism, a state Luke had never seen him in before. It had been a week since Karrde had left Tatooine.

Mara's wan face was lowered into her hands in a strangely uncharacteristic sign of defeat. Luke placed a hand on her tense shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled tiredly. He smiled back and squeezed her tense shoulder. His thought s flickering for a moment to the nightmares Mara had been having. He wondered if this strange incident had something too do with them and then dismissed the idea. Mara would say something. Yet still it nagged at him.

She looked over at him. The calm look of concentration she knew was a far cry from the feelings raging inside. She flickered over her own feelings. Grimacing as she remembered the dream of the night before. For the first time the child had spoken._ "I serve."_ The words still sent a chill down her spine. Luke noticed her discomfort and sent a enquring tendril of the force at her, a total supplication for which there were no words to describe. She smiled slightly at him but she could see he knew it was not a real smile.

Mara flicked her eyes over him and shivered. The room fell away into darkness.

_In the darkness sat a crumpled figure in black, she shivered. Small bars of red shone from the deepest recesses of the room. The throne had a light centered on it, all else was dark. Yellow eyes sought hers and an evil cackle reverberated through the dark room. Mara shivered again as a small figure stepped beside the throne. Night black eyes met Mara's. Mara whispered an apology to the child's ghost. She still regretted leaving the child, dirty, afraid and alone on that floating lab. The child looked away as though she guessed Mara's thoughts, her tiny body shaking from some emotion._

_The small child looked up into Mara's eyes again and then crumpled. On her knees she raised her head. Mara gasped in shock. No longer a child, but a young woman knelt beside the emperor's throne. She looked up at Mara, a pleading expression on her face. An old hand came down and stroked the soft black curls, that crowned the beauty the child had become, Mara looked away repulsed at the possessive gesture. The pretty face changed and became hard, cold and distant. Only the eyes remained the same. As though two different people inhabited one body. Dark eyes still looked out pleadingly at her as tears ran down her face, a face of hatred and evil._

_A red lightsaber ignited as the girl, now a woman stood. A sandy haired man stepped in front of her. Mara felt her own tears falling. She screamed at Luke but he did not turn or react in any way to show he even knew she was there. He looked up at the girl as she turned towards him. Tears still falling to her cold cheeks, pain greater than any Mara had seen in her eyes. Mara cried again as she fell to her knees, Luke did not even flinch when the girl raised the lightsaber and as Luke looked up at her she lowered it. Collapsing into a weeping ball on the floor as the girl inside took over again. Mara Screamed and cried again and again as she collapsed as well. But to no avail. Luke was falling, his eyes staying on the young girl. With a look of forgiveness in them for the weeping figure who crawled to his side. Mara was also on her knees, hot tears running down her cheeks…

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Naraé looked out at the heat wave shimmering over Tatooine's desert. She watched the figures in it without making a sound or moving at all. They looked like children. In her heart she knew them well and even at this distance her heart was singing. Sometimes she felt as though they were with her, helping her fight the other her. But that wasn't possible.

She stepped out of the broken down building and began across the desert. Swallowing her emotions she brought a little of the other her out to join her to hold back her fear.

They seemed to stop at her approach. A girl with very short blonde curls waved to her as she walked closer. Naraé blinked to make sure she was right about the girl. She could feel it here the lightside aura left by Obi-Wan Kenobi. It filled the desert air with moisture, gave it scent that it didn't truly have. She stepped amongst the ephemeral figures. She smiled slightly as she looked around. A deep breath in and out and she felt steadier.

They wore either plain grey clothing of pants and a loose top or soft brown clothing that was loose, and their bare feet danced across the blistering sand with reckless abandon. The desert wind carried soft sounds to her ears. They called her name. They laughed and giggled. The blonde girl stopped in front of her. Serious eyes looked up and she smiled. _"You have come back!"_ Naraé shook her head. "I never left Mernaé," she told her friend. Mernaé looked down and away, back to the others who had stopped and were watching her with a mixture of sadness and happiness.

_"We missed you. No one else was as clever as you."_ She looked up at her now adult friend shyly. _"nor are we still with you. I'm sorry we left you."_ the words were barely a whisper. Naraé shook her head. "No," she whispered. "I left you. I left you" she repeated. The blonde reached up and Naraé realised tears fell from her eyes a gentle wind brushed her tear away and she felt a wondrous joy well up within her.

_"You can feel me can't you?"_ Naraé nodded and looked up to the others they watched her with pride. _"You are changing. Be strong Naraé, you are the best of us. Remember that, and remember, as long as you remember us, we are with you."_ As she spoke she turned to gossamer then smoke. Naraé reached out as though to grab something real but her fingers encountered only air. Her cheeks were dry of tears as she turned away. The desert wind had scoured them away.

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Mara felt them before she heard them. They were calling her name. Luke… Leia, Karrde. She identified them quickly. She opened her eyes slowly.

Luke's heart was beating as though it were a trapped birds wings, he felt an awful taste I his mouth as he called Mara's name over and over. He eyes fluttered. The lashes opening to show her incedible eyes. As she did so tears fell from each eye. Forming trails back into her hair. Slowly she sat up from her prone position.

They looked at her as though they thought she might faint. Well, she thought wryly, that's probably what it looked like. She swallowed and felt the roughness of her throat. She looked up and met Luke's pale eyes. They had dark circle's underneath them. She smiled wryly at him. "Well," she began and stopped at the croak her voice made. "I take it I was screaming here too?" she half asked and struggled to stand. As she did so she had to reach out for Luke's arm as the room spun for a moment She noticed as she did so that Kardde was now even more pale and that Luke was nodding slightly while Leia and Han exchanged worried glances. She met each of her friends gazes. They all seemed half worried and half shocked at her collapse. "I'm alright," she said. "just… Just.." she struggled to find the words.

"Another nightmare?" asked Luke. She nodded as the others focused their eyes on Luke for a moment.

"Yeah," she said awkwardly as she straightened her self up. She could see the questions in all of their eyes. But right at that moment she was not prepared to face those questions, no matter that Luke at least was owed an explanation. "I'd rather not talk about it." She said with a slight fire to her words. Acidity returning to deflect them as it had always done before.

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Naraé watched the sunset from the calm interior of Obi-Wan's hut. Not that it was anything but a mess. Parts of the roof had fallen in among other things. Yet there was a sense of belonging, of contentment that she missed. The Galaxy might fall apart but the Jedi calm still remained in a few places. She thought back to her earliest memories. To faces of people long dead. To her friends she had seen again today. To the small alien who had once told her sadly that hope was all they had left.

Hope. She wondered what would have change if she had not survived. Not very much she concluded. Her dark eyes slid shut as she entered a meditation. As flew down within herself she found the pain and anger, the bitterness bleeding away with every steady breath. Slowly she began to sing an old folk song. Where she had learned the lullaby she did not remember, but the words came back, and with it other things came. Her mother came first, tall and beautiful, her strong aunt's face entered her mind. Then came others.

The tall young man who had knelt in front of her and whispered wonderingly in her mind._ 'Little Jedi'_. She remembered tears and then a place of towers and serious people. A place where the planet put the stars to shame. Where each building was it's own slice of heaven, and then below, the hell of darkness and fear. She remembered looking up at stormy eyes. He smiled at her this young man. Trust flowed through her. He smiled. _"Come my little one, I'll protect you."_ He had knelt in front of her. Another joined him. Serious grey blue eyes twinkling at her with promises.

Slowly, as though waking from a pleasant dream Naraé drifted back into the cold empty remains of Obi-Wan's old home. Her memories slipping away like sand through her fingers, yet the warmth of being loved, protected remained.


	5. An Admiral's revelations

In Darkness...

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A/N: Sorry this has taken so long. I have just had exams, and there have been some really trying ones... I hope you enjoy this chapter. I hope your starting to put things together.

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Admiral's revelations

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Talon watched Mara closely. She was still pale and tired looking. It had been a week since he had arrived, a week since she had collapsed. She still refused to talk about whatever it was she had seen. Her green eyes swiveled to look at him. He could almost hear her telling him off for worrying about her. She looked away after glaring at him. He sighed and looked away himself. His eyes settling on the holovid. He switched on the news. After a minute he grew bored.

Looking away he watched as the sun sank on Coruscant, outlining the tall woman in the window.

* * *

She brushed at the imperial uniform with distaste. The black uniform made her feel sick. She looked at her faint reflection in the huge window as it looked out at the beautiful starscape. She was the image of an imperial officer. Thick hair braided into an elaborate coil on the back of her head. She turned her head and watched as the doors opened. 

A young colonel was standing in the doorway. She watched his eyes blink and mouth open as he looked at her face. A slight smile graced her lips. He blinked.

"Hmm. Uh the Admiral will see you now." He said as formally as possible. She nodded crisply. He motioned for her to proceed him out the door. She paused as several stromtroopers formed up around her. She sighed as they began down the corridor of the Star Destroyer Chimera. They arrived at a door. The escort stopped. She glanced at the young Colonel and then stepped closer to the door. It opened with a hiss. She brushed her sweaty palms over her thighs before entering. She walked through the darkened anti-room before entering the main room. Around her were numerous paintings, sculptures and various other pieces of art.

She paused and glanced quickly around. These images were from a place she had not seen in ages. She saw an image nearby. A tall woman in pink with overdone face paint stood on a set of stone steps. She was very imperious looking. Naraé turned her head to look at other representations of women in stunning gowns. Other images showed beautiful countryside dotted with swampy looking forests and beautiful cities.

"Familiar?" asked a stern voice. She nodded slightly, lost in memories f a time long ago, when she had been a different person. When she had had a different name. When she had been happy and full of laughter.

"A little" she said softly. She turned to see a figure in an Admiral's uniform watching her with strong intelligent eyes. A white moustache twitched as he smiled slightly.

"You're rather unusual for an imperial officer aren't you?" he asked with a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. She raised an eyebrow, her heart beating like a caged animal inside her. "You are rather beautiful you know…" he said pacing a semi circle around her. "Not too mention we can find no record that you exist…" he paused and tilted his head, all amusement had disappeared from his face. "Except this." He touched a button on one of the sculptures. It changed into a child's smiling face as she looked up at herself. "The young neice of an Old Republic senator Amidala. She made headlines when she was taken to be a member of the Jedi Order. No relative of a serving senator had ever been taken before." He was watching her. She looked up at him.

"Forgive me Admiral, but I have no idea what you are talking about. I _was_ born on Naboo, but I was taken to Laris 7 as a baby. About the time the Clone wars broke out." He was watching her as she spoke. She gently pushed that he believe her. He looked back at the hologram of the child looking up at her.

She remembered the Holo being taken, she felt memories wash over her... _She had been on Coruscant when it was taken. She remembered the soulful blue eyes of the man who had held her hand darkening when the Holo was taken; he had pulled her behind him as they walked on into the Temple. She remembered the heated whispers they had exchanged the two men, and the others. Other children. And a little alien who twitched when he looked at her, at the moment he did so she saw something… something distant and frightening. She saw herself without hair, her eyes were strange and she wore a tight black outfit. In her hands blazed a lightsaber. The little alien had walked away quickly then. Not looking back to reassure her. A hand had brushed over her dark curls. She looked up as the kind man knelt down._

"You'll be fine." She nodded. As he smiled at her she took his proffered hand.

"Can I call you Bennie?" he looked down at her surprised.

"Why, little one, what does that mean?" he asked softly.

"It means you'll protect me." She looked up at him earnestly as he smiled.

"Well then yes, you may call me Bennie. He leaned down. "I will protect you little one. I promise." She smiled her grin unfettered by her missing front tooth.

She looked back at the Admiral as she pushed away the memories. "Besides, if this is supposed to be me before or even during the clone wars I would be far older than I am." She smiled at the Admiral. A bitter smile touched his lips.

"Touché." He murmured. She smiled.

"Now to the talks Admiral?" she asked. Her eyes flitting back to the hologram for a moment.

* * *

He had watched her reaction carefully. She was stunning and he found himself wanting to believe her. Then he saw her eyes flit back to the picture. Twice now he saw something appear that removed the only flaw to her beauty, her eyes. They were dead and lackluster. Where they should have glowed with something, anything, they did not, they showed nothing in their dark depths. But twice they had flickered to life. Once they had lost focus as though she was _trying_ or perhaps even _was_ remembering something from her past, and then as she looked at the image they glowed with something else… love he thought. He sighed soundlessly as he sat down opposite her once again dead eyes, he would discover this mystery he thought, but first he listened as her rich, accented voice began to speak. He listened to her warnings, and found himself forgetting his questions with every word.

* * *

Her mind strayed back to the towers reaching for the sky and the crevasses plunging down into the earth, she blinked to her self and admonished herself silently as she continued to speak to the Admiral. She shut the child up, locking her away in the tiniest corner of her mind she could manage.

* * *

Please, please, please, pretty please review? 


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